Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/658

628 PERSIA [GEOGRAPHY. of soldiers to the Shah s army. Very little is known as to the numbers and the peculiarities of, these nomads. The Iliyat tribes of Turkish descent have an Ilkhani appointed by the Shah. Besides these tribes there are wanderers who are less numerous, and who occupy a less prominent position, the gipsies common to so many countries." It is difficult to form an estimate of the population of Persian towns or districts. In the first place, opinion is divided upon the approximate figure to be accepted for the kingdom at large. Accord ing to St John, the discrepancy is between ten and four millions ; and if the smaller one were made a basis there would be but a scanty number indeed for partition among the cities and principal centres. The famine of 1870 was, moreover, severe and fatal enough to cause a considerable diminution in the totals calculated prior to its occur rence. When returning through Mashhad in the spring of 1872 the British commissioner for the Sistan boundary settlement was informed that no less than 100,000 persons had been carried off within the limits of the prince -governor s rule, of whom 24,000 were from the city itself, where, exclusive of passing pilgrims, reckoned by thousands, a population of 70,000 might well be sup posed. In Yazd and Ispahan the losses were also very great, and must have sensibly afiecte I the figures. Statistics The official estimate for 1881 is recorded as follows : inhabitants ofpopu- of cities, 1,963,800; wandering tribes, 1,909,800; inhabitants of lotion, villages and country, 3,780,000; total, 7,653,600. It is probable that 8,000,000 would be a fair estimate in round numbers ; and this should include the comparatively new accessions of territory in Sistan and western Baluchistan. The population of certain cities may be recorded as follows. Those figures marked with an asterisk are from the official returns given in the Statesman s Year Book for 1884. Tehran, *100, 000 ; Astrabad (city), 8000 in the province, 26,000 (Lovett, 1881); Tabriz, *120,000 ; Urumiya, *40,000 ; Hamadan, *30,000 ; Kar- manshah, 25,000 ; Rasht, 20,000 ; Kazvin, 25,000 ; Zanjan or Zanjanah, 20,000 (Eastwick, 1860) ; Kum, 20,000 (Euan Smith said in 1871 that out of 20,000 houses which it originally possessed only 4000 were then habitable) ; Ispahan, 60,000; ShMz,*30,000; Bush- ahr, 11,000; Yazd, *40,000 ; Karman, 40,000 ; Birjand, 12,000 (Sis- tan mission, 1872) ; Ardakan (Khurasan desert), 20,000 (Colonel Stewart, 1880) ; Bam, 600C (Goldsmid, 1866-72). With regard to three interesting places in eastern Persia visited by Macgregor in 1875, this active explorer gives no clue to the population of Tabas, beyond the fact that it is a wall-enclosed town about half a mile in length by a quarter in breadth, with an " ark " or citadel, but no bazaars ; of Tun, his 1500 "better houses" may imply about 6000 well-to-do people only ; and Bashruyah, between Tabas and Tun, he calls a village of some 600 houses, equivalent to a population of between 3000 and 4000. Admiuis- Government. The shah is regarded as vicegerent of the Prophet, tration. and, as such, claims implicit obedience so long as his commands do not go against the Koran and the sacred law. The executive government is carried on by a ministry of which the personnel is subject to constant change, and the distribution of duties depends much upon the standing in royal favour of individual ministers. It may be said, as a rule, that those who fill the more important functions and do the most real work are better known by their family names than the official titles accorded them. The some what common prefix "mirza" is usually taken by high function aries of state, a word which invariably denotes a member of the royal house when used as an affix. 1 The division of the country for administrative purposes has been mentioned above, p. 626. Provinces are further subdivided into districts under "hakims," or chiefs, who collect the revenue as well as exercise a general superintendence. In villages the "kat- khuda," or magistrate, administers justice. Of the Armenians under Persian rule there are said to be 43,000, chiefly in Julfa near Ispahan, and of Nestorians and Chaldseans 23,000, chiefly in Urumiya and Salmas. There are probably 70,000 Christians of every denomination. The number of Jews given is 19,000, and of Gabars (Guebres) or Parsis 8000. Perhaps the Nes- torians have been under-estimated ; but the Parsis have greatly dim inished in recent years. However tolerant the declared principles of the Government towards aliens in religion, there is no doubt that much could yet be done to improve the condition of the shah s non- Moslem subjects in respect of taxation, civil and social rights, and general treatment by local authorities. Efforts on behalf of the Nestorians have from time to time been made in late years, with the support of the British Government, and special agents have been deputed to tJrumiya to report upon supposed grievances 1 In 1884 the following were among the more prominent ministers : War. Xaibu "s-Saltanah. Kamran Mirza. Interior an/1 Finance. Mustoffu 1-Manuilik, Mirza Yusuf KMn. Foreign A fairs. Xasru 1-Mulk, Mirza Malmn ul Khdn. Justice. Mushira d-Daulah, Mirza Alxlul Waliab. Worship aiid Telegraphs. Makhbaru d-Daulah, Ah Kulf Khan. Of these, Mirza Mahmikl Khan, the "na.sru 1-mulk," had been minister in London. His predecessor in the cabinet had been always known as simply Mirza Sa id Khan. with a view to their alleviation or removal. The temporary appointment of a Christian governor was an indication of the shah s good wishes, but can hardly be said to have attained the desired end. It is just possible that the desire awakened in England in the second half of the 19th century to know more of the Eastern churches may result in the exercise of a beneficial influence over the fortunes of a people who have suffered various forms of oppression for iive centuries or more. See NESTOUIANS, vol. xvii. p. 357 sq., where statistics, &c. , are given. Army. Military service is not popular, and could not be pro- Army, vided for at all but by compulsory enrolment. Pay is nlways kept in arrears, generally for two or three years ; and, when issued, it is reduced from its legitimate amount by the exactions of distri buting officers, from the "sarhang," or lieutenant-colonel, down wards. The native officers are, as a rule, incapable and ignorant of military affairs ; and the European drill-instructors, whatever their local rank, have no actual command in the native army. The common "sarbaz," or Persian infantry soldier, might with good officers and good training be made very efficient. In the perform ances of his long marches 24 or even 40 miles a day he has very often a companion, his donkey, without which adjunct no picture of a Persian infantry soldier would be complete. Setting such aid aside, the marching and endurance of the sarbaz are wonderful, and, though better food might in some respects improve hisphysique, his frugality is such as to account in some measure for his bodily strength. If wanting in the discipline that is considered in England essential to the well-being of the service, the fault is that of his superiors, by whom he is ill -commanded, ill -taught, and ever accursed with an evil example. In fact, the moral value of the soldier deteriorates as the social grade rises. It is much the same in Turkey, where the state of things is perhaps Oriental rather than national. The post of " wakil," or non-commissioned officer, becomes thus the first step to demoralization. Above this person is the "naib," or lieutenant, corresponding to the Turkish "muldzim"; then comes the "sultan," or captain, the Turkish "yuzbashi " ; " yawar," or major, the Turkish " binbashi " ; " sar- hang," or lieutenant-colonel, the Turkish " kaim. - makam " ; and the "sartip," or colonel, the Turkish "mir-alai"; such are roughly the respective grades which represent the commissioned ranks. The most business-like cavalry the present writer can recall in the shah s dominions were the stray horsemen met with in the Karman province. Their dress, brown from top to toe, with the Kvp(3acria of Herodotus and the carbine slung over the back, ap peared simple and soldier-like ; and nothing but hereditary aptitude could make the horseman so fitted to the horse. Both in 1866 and in 1871 the governor of Bampi ir, in Baluchistan, had good stuff to discipline into irregular cavalry in his mounted Baluchi s as well as Persians ; and the same remark applies to the Persian governor of Sistan in 1872. The "istikbal," or motley troop of cavaliers, sent out to meet the writer by either chief, presented a singular specimen of rough but sufficiently formidable-looking satellites men who had, clearly, fighting propensities, and might be moulded, without much effort, into very serviceable soldiers. Colonel (now Sir Charles) Macgregor found the few irregular cavalry incidentally brought under his observation in Khurasan very fairly mounted in a working sense. Over the saddle and behind it they teemed to carry all that belonged to them. With less than 2 a year in pay, over and above a grain allowance, he says truly of these cava liers, that, "if not the best light horsemen in the world, they are the very cheapest." At Mashhad he saw several Persian regiments encamped outside the city. They were composed of men generally of fine physique, hardy and muscular ; but their small pny of seven " tumans " (not 2, 16s.) per annum was seldom realized up to half the amount, and they hail to subsist chiefly on their rations. Their uniform consisted of a black lamb s-wool busby, with a lion and sun in brass on the front, a dark-blue tunic, on the European model, with white bands across the breast, blue trousers with red stripe, and shoes (if they like to wear them). They had "clumsy percussion, smooth-bore muskets and bayonets, with locks of French manufacture " ; but they did not clean them, and it was probable that more than half were unfit for actual use. The artillery he states to be probably the most efficient branch of the. service, not smart, but rough and ready. Although there were no English officers employed in training the Persian troops during any of the present writer s visits to Tehran, there were two Englishmen connected with the arsenal to whom the local Government was indebted for useful service. The chief control of the arsenal, however, and indeed the direction of the whole Persian artillery, was in the hands of an Armenian ; the two principal drill -instructors were Italians, a Florentine and a Neapolitan ; while that vital part of the public works department comprising roads and bridges was under an Austrian officer hold ing the rank of general. There were, besides, two or three other Europeans holding quasi-military posts. Sir Henry Rawlinson, who was for five years in the shah s army, believes that, " if the Persian material were placed at the disposal of a European power who would encourage and take care of the